M&M Cookie Bars

I found this recipe about a week ago, from this blog. I have made them twice already, and the second batch is already almost gone. :) We devour them quite quickly around here.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1.5 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• M&M's (I use about 1/2 cup per batch)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.




Cooling in the pan.


2. Melt the butter in a large mixing bowl. Stir in the sugar.
3. Let it cool off slightly, and then beat in the egg and vanilla.
4. In a smaller bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Stir this into the wet mixture.
5. Pour into a greased 8x5 baking dish (or similar size). I used an 8x8 baking dish and spread the dough a little thinner - but I got more cookies out of it. :)
6. Bake for 13-15 minutes. Watch them carefully though - if you bake them too much before you put the M&Ms in, they won't stick as well.  
7. Pull them out of the oven and top with M&Ms, gently pressing them into the dough.
8. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the top is set. The cookies shouldn't wiggle if you shake the pan back and forth. They should be a very light golden brown on the edge, and white in the center.
9. Cool completely in the pan (about 5 minutes) and then slice. I sliced my cookies fairly small, so I got 25 cookie bars.

 These cookies are actually pretty fast and very simple to make. At first, it took me some time to figure out how long to cook them for and get the perfect amount of softness and chewiness. They are worth the effort, though, and would be great for a party.